Red Rising discussion
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Red Rising
What were your initial thoughts?
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Liam
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rated it 5 stars
Nov 10, 2014 03:49PM
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At first I was like "meh, this is just like the Hunger Games", and I saw what happened to Eo coming miles away, so no surprise there. What really got me hooked up was Darrow's character development. The moral struggle he faces in the Institute, how his enemies are now his friends and how he may have found another haemanthus to give. I loved Mustang, Sevro and Pax, their struggles and unique personalities.This book ended up being so much better than The Hunger Games, it left me yearning for a sequel (which I'm about to buy)
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I am so glad that you got such a great experience from it. The struggle between loving your enemy and doing what you are needed to do is definitly a great plot line that i am head over heals for.
At first I also thought this book was very similar to The Hunger Games. But it's only similar in the way that The Hunger Games was similar to Battle Royale. Red Rising, though, is so much better than The Hunger Games. To me, it felt like there was more purpose to the Game in Red Rising than in The Hunger Games. There, it seemed kind of arbitrary to have the games...it was more of a plot device geared towards the author's strength of writing...and it worked brilliantly.
In Red Rising, the Game was a way of mimicking the beginnings of society at the dawn of space exploration and colonization. It was also a way to see who was suited best for what roles in society after the Institute. Additionally, the goal wasn't to kill your opponents necessarily. That may have helped a little toward the goal of coming out on top...but Darrow discovered that more than being a killer was necessary. He needed to inspire. And that is a much harder task.
It's also what made Red Rising a much better read. It was so complex in many ways. The moral struggles, as well as the intra- and interpersonal struggles were captured very well and were just as riveting as the action sequences.
The supporting cast is phenomenal. The slowly blooming romance is superb. The storming of Olympus was epic. I also appreciated the litany of literary, mythological, and historical references. It's amazing how tying a fictional world back to elements in our real world makes such an impact in the world-building here.
When I read this book, I thought to myself that this was a 9/10. The only thing it lacked was complete originality, but who really has that anymore? But then I read Golden Son and it COMPLETELY blew Red Rising out of the water!!! It wasn't even close. But alas...that is a topic for a different discussion.
I loved red rising. Now I’m reading golden son. So back to red rising, I thought it was an amazing book. Darrow became my favorite character.
